Electronic devices, including portable electronic devices, have gained widespread use and may provide a variety of functions including, for example, telephonic, electronic messaging and other personal information manager (PIM) application functions. Portable electronic devices include, for example, several types of mobile stations such as simple cellular telephones, smart telephones, wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), and laptop computers with wireless 802.11 or Bluetooth™ capabilities.
Portable electronic devices such as PDAs or smart telephones are generally intended for handheld use and ease of portability. Smaller devices are generally desirable for portability. Smaller devices have smaller displays which cannot display as much information as larger displays. Designing a graphical user interface (GUI) for portable electronic devices such that the appropriate information is displayed or readily available to the user at any given time, and a size which is appropriate for the user, remains an ever-present issue.
To add new data, such as a new contact or other data item, on a portable electronic device typically requires the user to navigate through the GUI to locate the relevant application, launch the application, select a menu option to add the new data, input the data, and store the new or changed data item. This process is time consuming and cumbersome due to the menu navigation. A more efficient method for text entry on a portable electronic device is desirable.